Missouri General Assembly Wraps Up First Full Week

Missouri General Assembly Wraps Up First Full Week

posted by dkent
on Thu, 01/16/2014 - 4:32pm

The first full week of the Missouri General Assembly wrapped up on January 16. Lawmakers have filed nearly 800 bills so far. There are 40 bills with potential impact on credit unions being tracked by the Missouri Credit Union Association’s (MCUA) Advocacy Department.

Financial "Tip of the Week"

During the 2014 legislative session, MCUA will provide lawmakers a financial "Tip of the Week" to share with their constituents. This week MCUA provided timely tips to help their constituents protect themselves against retail data breaches. If you have any specific examples to share with legislators on this topic, please contact David Kent or Amy McLard (contact information listed below) and we will help you get that information into the hands of the right lawmakers. Read the full tip here.

Key Committees Begin Work

MCUA’s Advocacy Department met with every member of the House Financial Institutions Committee in anticipation of the committee’s first hearing on January 15. Hearings took place on HB 1217 and HB 1218. Both bills are sponsored by Committee Chair Tony Dugger (R-District 141). MCUA will closely monitor the progress of both bills.

HB 1217 bans “pension advance” offers and is receiving bipartisan support, with State Treasurer Clint Zweifel (D) backing the legislation. David Kent, director of state legislative affairs for the Missouri Credit Union Association spoke in support of the bill during the committee hearing. It is expected to be voted out of committee on January 22.

HB 1218 deals with the order of preference of liens and encumbrances on a unit owner of a leasehold condominium.

The Senate Financial Institutions Committee did not meet this week, but is expected to meet for the first time on Monday, January 27.

State of the State

Governor Jay Nixon gives his State of the State address on January 21, to outline his legislative priorities for the session and release budget recommendations for the 2015 fiscal year. Following the State of the State, the House and Senate Budget and Appropriations Committees will begin full hearings on the recommendations put forward by the Governor. In addition to the Appropriation and Budget Committees beginning to meet, you will also see a full hearing compliment of committee hearings in the House and Senate. The Governor's address will be streamed live through the state's Web portal, www.MO.gov.

For information on state legislative issues please contact Amy McLard, Senior Vice President of Advocacy, at amclard@mcua.org or 314-542-1370, or David Kent, Director of State Legislative Affairs at dkent@mcua.org or 314-542-1343.